


Come Back to Me

by gray_autumn_sky



Series: Set in Storybrooke, Canon Divergent [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Outlaw Queen Fix It Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-13 21:01:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15373233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gray_autumn_sky/pseuds/gray_autumn_sky
Summary: Regina has a plan to bring back Robin. Will it work?





	Come Back to Me

She hadn’t told anyone about her plan.

There was no guarantee that it would work; and she’d certainly never done anything like this before. There were certain things–magical things–that weren’t in her wheelhouse, not because she was incapable of them, but because she’d never studied them.

There were a few, select things she’d never dabbled in or even read about, things she hadn’t invested much interest in–mostly at some point, it’d become too painful to even consider. When she’d attempted to resurrect Daniel all those years ago, she’d taken Jefferson’s word at value–and she’d been badly burned. It was like she lost Daniel all over again, and then there was that fateful day in Storybrooke when she did lose him again–and she’d lost him at her own hand.

Robin had been her second chance–her second chance at everything.

And when she’d lost him, it was different than when she’d lost Daniel. This time, she’d gone completely numb.

She could feel herself slipping away, withdrawing from those around her–but this time, she knew that she couldn’t let herself slip too far. She’d allowed herself a couple of days–days where she didn’t make it out of bed, days when she didn’t see or talk to anyone, days where all she did was cry and miss him. She allowed herself time to mourn what would never be and everything that should have been, and she allowed herself time to feel sorry for herself. That wasn’t selfish, she’d decided–but again, she couldn’t let it go on for too long.

But then, as the haze lifted, she found herself wondering is this was how it had to be or whether or not there was something she could do. If she was wrong, she was no worse off than she was–and really, she had little else to lose…

There’d been a gust of wind, and it carried the soft scent of pine. She’d looked up and her stomach twisted–she could almost feel him.

Following the wind, she found herself standing in the woods at one of a trail. She held her breath and she craned her neck, and for a moment, she didn’t see anything other than trees. Sighing, she looked away and fought back the tears that welled in her eyes–grateful that no one had to know about her failure, that no one would look at her with either pity or that look they gave her when they were thinking something terrible that happened was what she deserved, but just didn’t want to say it to her face.

Swallowing the lump at the back of her throat, her eyes pressed closed and she turned away from the trail. “I really should have known I couldn’t rely on them,” she muttered bitterly as she pushed away a tear that had strayed down her cheek–and then, as she turned her back, the wind again picked up and again, she was overcome by the scent of pine.

She tried to ignore it and she tried to rationalize it, but for whatever reason, she couldn’t bring herself to walk back to her car. So, she stood there, rooted in place with her eyes closed. A chill ran down her spine–the scent of pine seemed to be getting stronger–and slowly, she found herself turning.

And as she turned, she found her breath catching in her throat and her chest clenching. Cupping her hand over her mouth she gasped and the tears that had been welling in her eyes streamed down her cheeks–and standing down at the opposite end of the trail was Robin.

She couldn’t move and she feared that if she did, it was somehow shatter the illusion, that somehow, it’d make him disappear. So, she stood there and stared, unwilling and unable to so much as blink.

Her heartbeat quickened as he started toward her–a few tentative steps until he broke out into a jog, and then, before she knew it, he was sweeping her up from the ground and swinging her around. He held her tight against him and she could feel his heart beating in his chest and he felt so warm–warm and alive.

“You’re here,” she said, her voice cracking as she hugged him closer. “You’re really here.”

“Thanks to you,” he murmured back as she pressed a kiss into her hair. “Well, you and your parents.” He set her down and she pulled back just enough so that she could look at him–and for a split second, she found herself lost in his sparkling blue eyes. “Your mother drives a hard bargain.”

“She does…”

“Not even Zeus could say no to her–not if he knew what was good for him.”

A smile edged onto her lips, and she laughed out as she pushed herself forward and wrapped her arms around his neck–for once, she was grateful for her mother’s meddling.


End file.
